Work on the stretch of gas pipeline across the A49 between
Peterstow and Bridstow villages near Ross-on-Wye is now
nearing completion. Many local residents were, understandably,
concerned about the possible impact this work would have
upon the environment and the community but it would seem
that these fears were unfounded. Murphy
Pipelines has worked hard to minimize the effect that the
laying of the gas pipeline has had and has, in the opinion
of many people, gone the 'extra mile'.

Karen
Stonadge is a resident of Much Birch who takes her children
to school at Bridstow Primary School. When the gas pipeline
works were announced, she was initially concerned that,
as she travels through Sellack, she would encounter the
pipeline works there and there would inevitably be traffic
delays and mess. "I
was really worried that the journey to school was going
to take far longer and the prospect of sitting in traffic
queues every morning with two young children was not one
I was looking forward to but I have been very impressed
at the lack of any major disruption to road users. Of course,
there were some minor hold-ups but the workmen were always
very polite and cheerful and this made any delay less of
a problem.'

Continued
. . .

Tony O' Sullivan by the new fence at the finished A49 crossing,
where hedgerows
are being replaced to exactly match those removed. Ref: DSC_0362

Another
person impressed with the way in which the works have been
carried out is Rachel Bushell, who lives in Bridstow. 'I
have seen a few more lorries going up and down but other
than that there has been no disruption at all. In fact,
they have made so little impact, that I wasn't aware that
the work had actually really got started, let alone finished!'

Rachel is so impressed that she has written to Tony O'Sullivan,
Project Manager for the work, to compliment him on how the
work has gone. 'The area where the pipe has been laid now
just looks like a normal ploughed field,' she said. "They
have even replaced the fence! Certainly the people who objected
to the pipeline being built have not had their fears realized
and residents living near the next stretch to be built need
have no worries about the impact this pipeline will have
upon them or their surroundings.'

Denise
Stevens is a Mum and Childminder living in Bridstow and
who has campaigned about road safety on the A49 for some
time. She has been impressed with the way in which Murphy
Pipelines has considered the safety aspect of children attending
Bridstow Primary School, which is the nearest school to
this section of the pipeline works. Lorries travelling from
the A49 section of the site down to Sellack had to drive
down the lane past the school. 'I was really impressed with
how the company changed it's work schedules so that the
lorries avoided driving down the lane at school dropping
off and picking up time,' Denise explained. 'It is not often
that a multinational company like Murphy's pays that amount
of attention to the needs of the local community in which
they find themselves working. Usually what you would get
is "we've got a job to do" but Murphy's have gone out of
their way to avoid the two busy times of day outside the
school.'

Tony
O'Sullivan has also done his best to build good relations
with the local community by sponsoring a number of events
over the summer. One of these was the Strawberry Fair at
Bridstow Primary School. Jules King, Chair of the PTFA at
he school explained, 'I wrote to Murphy Pipelines, having
been driving behind one of their lorries and thought that
I'd be cheeky and ask if they would donate a prize for our
raffle. I never dreamed that I would get a reply but, a
few days later, an e-mail from Tony O'Sullivan arrived,
offering us £500 of Tesco Vouchers! You can imagine what
a prize of that size can do for a small school event! We
had already been incredibly lucky with some wonderful prizes
from local businesses and Tony's generosity was the icing
on the cake. We were able to use the vouchers both for prizes
and to buy prizes for the games at the Fair. The result
was that the PTFA raised over £1,500 and this despite heavy
rain on the day of the Fair.'

An aerial view of construction work in progress at the crossing
last April. Ref: DSC_9889

Nature Watch Video: Kingfishers on the River Wye

Most people when seeing a kingfisher for the first time
are surprised at how small they are but the kingfisher cannot
be confused with any other bird. They fly fast, at approximately
45 miles per hour and, despite their vivid colour - red
underneath with an electric blue back - they are quite difficult
to see. Diving from a low perch or sometimes from a hover,
they catch a fish, fly to (usually) a different perch and
devour it head first.

I
have discovered that they are even more difficult to film
than see. This short film is just 2 minutes long but it
took forever and a lot of patience and frustration to make.
The part with the bird killing and eating a fish took no
less than 30 hours over a period of 10 days to capture,
and this is where the 'frustrating' bit came in. The first
time I caught it visually on the perch I had been watching,
I changed the camera battery midway through hiding and waiting,
and forgot to switch the recorder back on. I dare not think
how long it took to capture the dive, which in real time
is over in 2 seconds. I have run the dive twice, slowing
it down the second time so that it can be seen a little
more clearly.

The
still photos at the beginning and the first bit of moving
film were shot in 2006. The first bit of film was shot with
a hand held camera as the bird arrived just after I had
packed the tripod to give up and go home and I did not have
time to get it ready again, so the first few seconds are
shaky. I have included it because it shows the bird's red
underside. If you turn the sound up, you will hear the kingfisher's
high pitched song as it lands, and the sound of the fish
being slapped against the branch - he (I am pretty sure
it is a male kingfisher - the underside of the female's
beak is red) certainly makes sure that the fish is dead
before swallowing and going for a second dive.

If
your broadband is slow, click the left hand image to view
in low resolution. If you have fast broadband (8 Mbps),
clicking the right hand image will give slightly higher
quality video but it will still take MUCH longer to buffer.

Matt's
Friends Raise Money with a Cricket Day at Goodrich

A special cricket day was held at Goodrich Cricket Club
on Monday, 27th August. The event was held in memory of
Matt Beddard who died of a brain tumour at the age of 14.
Matt was a very popular boy who loved sports and lots of
his friends turned out on Monday to take part in the fun
and fund-raising.

The
cricketers each paid £10 to take part in the tournament
and with money raised from a raffle and £500 donated
by HSBC, approximately £1,800 was raised. Half of
the money will go to the much needed teenage cancer ward
fund at Birmingham Childrens Hospital and the rest will
go to Goodrich Cricket Club.

Matt's
family are delighted with the result and would like to thank
everybody who helped and took part in this very special
way to remember Matt.

Matt's friends and family enjoy a great day of fund-raising cricket
in his memory. Ref: DSC_0473

A few of the players in action at Goodrich Cricket Club. Ref: DSC_2993

(Payable
in advance. Page placement dependent on amount of
news during any one week.)

THE
WYENOT NEWS DEADLINE

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day's edition.

PLEASE
NOTE HOWEVER:
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here at 'Wyenot News' are Hell with by far, the most events
I cover occurring at the weekend. The photography that the
public sees happening is only one tiny part of the whole
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If
at all possible, please send your story in as early as you
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before 3:00 am every Tuesday and Wednesday morning after
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Thank
you very much for your understanding and help.

Alan

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